Shuttle.



j. D. NIX. sHumE. APPLICATION FILED JULY Il, 1916.

v Patented June 4, 19118.I

3l/@HM 00.0. o] v .TOPIN D. NIX, or PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

SHUTTLE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented J une 4, 1.91%.

Application filed J'ulyll, 1916. Serial No. 108,623.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that l, JOHN D. N Ix, a citizen of the United States, residing at Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented new and useful Improvements in Shuttles, of which the following is a specification.

This invention appertains to shuttles and has particular reference to the class of selfthreading shuttles.

An object of the invention is to provide a shuttle with novel and improved mechanism for conveniently effecting the operation of extending thread from the bobbin of the shuttle through the thread receiving eye thereof.

Another object of the invention resides in a shuttle provided with the above characteristics and, in addition, with a coperating thread tensioning device, whereby the thread will be prevented from unraveling or unwinding too quickly Vfrom the bobbin in l proportion to the 'amount required, so that the possibility of the same becoming tangled after leaving the eye. of the shuttle will be avoided, as will other resultant evils.

Other objects will be in part obvious and in part pointed out hereinafter.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combination of elements, and arrangement of parts which will be exemplified in the construction herein described and the scope of the application of which will be` indicated in the following claims.

In the accompanying drawing, wherein is shown the preferred embodiment of the present invention, y

Figure 1 is a top plan view of the shuttle comprising the invention,

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary enlarged horizontal sectional view of the shuttle, disclosing more particularly the threading" mechanism andi showing the needle thereof in an extended portion,

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional View taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2, and y Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 2, disclosing lthe needle of the threadingmechanism in its retracted or innermost position and illustrating the action of the thread tensioning mechanism.

Fig. 5` is a fragmentary detail view of the Similar reference characters refer to similar parts throughout all the views of the drawing.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, the shuttle 5 comprising the present invention consists of the usual elongated body G, having a longitudinal recess 7 formed therein, the recess being provided with the usual pivoted spindle 8 of a thread receiving bobbin 9. An eye 10 of novel formation is provided in the body 6, and the present invention particularly provides means for conducting free extremity 11 of thread carried upon the bobbin 9 to the eye 10 in order that the shuttle will be capable of being con veniently and readily threaded.

To this end, there is mounted in the recess 7 a tubular casing 12, secured to the body G by means of suitable fastening elements 13. One extremity' of the casing 12 terminates in a thread receiving slot 111 which is disposed directly in the path of the internal bore 15 of the casing. Mounted within the bore 15 is a movable needle 1G, the latter embodying an outer notched extremity 17 and an inner extremity formed to provide an upwardly extendin'o' ro'ection 18. which is dis osed' in a longitudinally extending slot 19 formed in the casing 12. The projection 18 serves in the capacity of a handle, whereby the movey ment of the needle 1G may be manually controlled and also prevents the needle 16 from rotating within the casing so that the notched extremity 17 thereof will be retained in an operable position, as will be clearly understood.

The casing 12 is extended to provide a bifurcated extremity :20 which is disposed within or adjacent to the eye 10 of the shuttle, the inner end of the extremity .20 terminating in the thread receiving slot 14 and is also provided with an opening 21 formed in continuation of the bore 15. Vertically extending posts 2Q connect the opposite walls of the bifurcated extremity and are employed in conjunction with a thread tensioning device to be hereinafter set forth.

In operation, the free extremity 11 ofthe thread carried by the bobbin is inserted into .the thread receiving slot '14 so that the same will be in the path of the notched extremity 17 of the needle 16 when the latter' is pressed` outwardly.` The needle may be forced. `outwardly by the operator of the shuttle pressino upon the projection 18 and this action will*i result in connecting the thread With the notched extremity 17 of the needle so that the thread will be moved in unison with the needle. The needle 16 is moved until the notched portion thereof is forced to a position, as disclosed in Fig. 2, exterior of the shuttle 5 so that the thread carried thereby may be conveniently grasped by the operator of the shuttle and drawn through the eye 10. After the thread has been passed through the eye the needle 16 is retracted so as not to interfere with the operation of the shuttle. In the preferred form of the invention' the needle 16 is automatica-ll retracted, by positioning a spring 23 wit-hin the casing 12 so as to surround the needle 16, said spring being confined between the projection 18 of the latter and a permanent portion of the casing 12, whereby when said needle is released after having been forced outwardly, the needle will automatically assume its retracted position due to the influence of the spring 23.

In order to place the thread 11 under tension after the same has been trained through 'the eye 10, so that the same will not unravel fabric cooperating with the shuttle, an automatic thread tensioning device 2li is employed to engage the thread and is operated by the movable needle 16. Tensioning dervice preferably consists of a cam 25 rotatably mounted on a stud 26 projecting upwardly from the body 6. The cam has secured thereto a spring 27 which normally forces the cam surface of the cam 25 into the path of movement of the projection 1S, so that when the needle is moved the projection 18 thereof will contact with the cam 25 and oscillate the same about the stud 26.

integrally formed or secured to the cam is an arm 28 which s provided adjacent to the outer extremity thereof with a series of loops 29 which are adapted, when the cam 25 is oscillated by the movable projection 18, to be moved into the path of the needle 16,

so that the latter will pass centrally through said loop, substantially in the manner shown in F ig. 2, said loops passing between the vertical post 22 of the bifurcated extremity 20. After the shuttle has been threaded and the needle 16 is retracted, the thread 11 will be caught by the loops 29 and forced rearwardly into the recess 7 by the action of the spring 27, this action causing the thread to be trained around the vertical post 22 and the loops 29. rIlhus it will be seen that when the thread is placed under tension by being associated with the warp and by the movement of the shuttle it will be prevented from unwinding too rapidly from the bobbin 9 by the action of the arm 28 and the coperating posts 22. When the needle 16 is retracted the arm 28 will assume its inner position within the recess 7 by the action of the spring 27, as the cam 25 may be moved independently of the projection 18.

From the foregoincr it Will be apparent that the objects of die present invention have been achieved, and that all theadvantageous features above mentioned are, among others, present. The shuttle is of simple construction, of few parts and absolutely reliable in operation. rl`he elements are so disposed as to not interfere with the operation of the shuttle and are of stanch construction so as not to be liable to become out of order or to be readily damaged. llVhile the preferred form of the invention has been illustrated and described, it is to be understood that various minor structural alterations may be made in the same which practice may develop and that such alterations or modifications Will fall within the ambit of the invention.

1n conclusion, attention is called to the fact that the present invention includes means for varying the tension which may be placed upon the thread 11. This feature is particularly important in order that too much tension will not be placed upon a weak thread or vice versa. To this end the spring 27 has the fixed extremity thereof connected to a crank arm 35 pivotally secured to the shuttle body by means of a set screw or an equivalent 36. By this construction, the tension of the spring 27 may be readily varied by rotating the arm 35 to different positions around its axis 38, as will be readily understood.

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new is 1. A shuttle comprising a recessed body having a bobbin positioned therein, a threading device situated within the recessed portion of said body, said device embodying a movable needle, means for guiding the free extremity of the thread carried by said bobbin to the needle When the latter is retracted, means for projecting said needle whereby said thread will be trained through the thread receiving eye of the shuttle, and a thread tensioning device under the control of said needle, whereby the thread is trained through the device simultaneously with the passing of the thread through said eye.

2. A shuttle comprising a recessed body having a bobbin positioned therein, a threading device situated Within said body, said device consisting of a movable needle normally positioned within the recess of the body when in a retracted position, means for guiding the free extremity of the thread carried by said bobbin to a notch formed in one extremity of said needle, means for extending said needle so that thenotched end thereof will extend beyond the body of said shuttle whereby said thread `Will `be trained through the thread receiving eye of the shuttle, a thread tensioning device under the control of the needle, whereby the thread is simultaneously trained through the device and said eye, and means for automatically returning the device to normal position Suhsequent to the threading thereof.

3. A shuttle comprising a body having a recess formed therein, a bobbin carried by is moved forwardly to position said device to receive the thread, and means for automatically returning the device to normal position whereby the tensioning device acts to tension the thread subsequent to the retraction of said needle.

4. A shuttle comprisinga recessed body having a thread carrying bobbin positioned therein, a threading device carried by said body and adapted to conduct thread from the interior of said body to the exterior thereof, said device comprising a movable thread receiving needle normally positioned within said body, means for connecting the free end of the thread carried by said bobbin with a notch provided in the outer end of the needle, means by which to move said needle so that the thread carried thereby will be trained through an eye formed in said body, means for automatically returning said needle from an extended position to a retracted position, and thread tensioning means controlled by said movable needle when the latter is moved forwardly to place said thread under suitable tension after the same has been trained through said eye.

5. A shuttle comprising a recessed body having a thread carrying bobbin positioned therein, a threading device carried by said body and comprising a movable thread receiving needle, means by which to move said needle so that the thread carried thereby will be trained through an eye formed in said body, a thread tensioning means actuated by said movable needle, said tensioning means embodying a cam operable by the movement of said needle, au arm rotatable with said cam, said arm being provided with thread receiving loops which are adapted to engage with said thread when the needle is moved outwardly, and means for returning said arm to normal position and thus placing lthe thread under tension when said needle is moved inwardly.

6. A shuttle comprising a recessed body having a thread carrying bobbin therein, a threading device carried by said body, movable means embodied 'in said device for conducting the free extremity of the threads carried by said bobbin to the exterior of said shuttle, an eye formed in said body, through which the thread is trained, a thread tensioning device operated by said movable means and consisting of an arm capable of being moved into the path of said movable means when the latter is extended and provided with means for engagement with the thread to place the latter under tension when said movable means is moved to its retracted position.

7 A shuttle comprising a recessed body having a thread receiving bobbin mounted therein, a shuttle threading device mounted within said body and including a movable needle having a notch formed in one extremity thereof, means for moving said needle from its retracted position within said body to a point exterior of the latter, means for guiding the free extremity of the thread carried by the bobbin to said notched extremity of the needle, to effect the threading of said shuttle when the needle is extended, a thread tensioning device comprising a movable arm, loops formed on said arm, a cam surface disposed upon said arm and situated in the path of movement of said needle whereby to move said loops in the path of movement of said needle and thread, and means connected to said arm for placing said threads under a suitable tension when said needle is moved to a retracted position.

In testimony whereof I aflix my Signature.

JOHN D. NIX.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

